Frank Sinatra was a man’s man. All throughout his life he was portrayed as the tough Italian crooner who had a wild streak with the ladies. The press painted a portrait of Sinatra as someone who was mean, arrogant and ruthless .He was no doubt something special and I will always hold a special place in my musical heart for Ole Blue Eyes. Fortunately, Director Francis Ford Coppola kept him in mind when he directed “The Godfather” released in 1972. Easily, one of the best mafia movies ever made it has a remarkable cast. It stars the unforgettable Marlon Brando, one of my personal favorites Al Pacino, James Cann and Robert Duval. The movie includes an array of characters and one that always stuck out in my mind was the convincingly similar; Johnny Fontane.
Johnny Fontane played by Al Martino was a controversial role because it has always been rumored that it was loosely based on Ole Blue Eyes. I must admit, the similarities are amazing. In the movie, Fontane was the Godson of Vito Corleone setting out to the big city to make it big in show business and to be a successful singer. In the beginning the ‘family’ intervenes with his career and buys out a contract with his big band leader with an “an offer he couldn’t refuse.” This goes right along with Sinatra being rumored that he may have had offered Tommy Dorsey an offer he couldn’t refuse back in 1942. Sinatra finally found his sound and needed to get out on his own. He was a soloist. (Kaplan 140)
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| “Johnny Fontane” singing at the wedding of “Connie Corleone” |
On set of The Godfather , Coppola directs Al Pacino
At another time in the movie, the family once again interjects with Johnny’s career and makes an offer on a movie part which ends up regenerating his career. It’s very similar to when Sinatra's third wife Ava Gardner secretly asked for a try out for Frank for the role of Maggio in From Here to Eternity. Sinatra was excellent and won an Oscar for his part making it one of the greatest comebacks in showbiz history. No one knows if this was just a mere coincidence or an intentional look by Coppola into the world of the mafia and its associates.
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| (1976) Rumors have circulated for years about Sinatra and his ‘mafia’ friends. (Sinatra third one from left in white collard shirt) Here he is pictured with : Paul Castellano, Gregory DePalma, Tommy Marson, Carlo Gambino, Aladena Fratianno, Salvatore Spatola, Seated: Joseph Gambino, Richard Fusco. Paul Castellano was head of the Gambino family in New York. |
When Sinatra was 70 years old, he gave a Q & A at Yale Law School in which the speaker Sidney Zion was brave enough to ask him about the rumors surrounding his contract with Tommy Dorsey. In James Kaplan’s best-selling novel, “Frank; The Voice” he goes into detail about the interview giving an inside look of Sinatra’s cool, calm and collected attitude about it. Zion tells Sinatra to set the record straight. Finally, explain the rumor that has always surrounded the Godfather/Tommy Dorsey scenario.
“The reason I wanted to leave the orchestra, was because Crosby was number one, way up on top of the pile and in the field.” He continued, “We're some awfully good singers with the orchestras. Bob Eberly and Jimmy Dorsey’s Orchestra was a fabulous vocalist. Mr. Como was with Ted Weems and he still is such a wonderful singer. I thought if I don’t make a move out of this band and try to do it on my own soon, one of those guys will do it and I’ll have to fight all three of them, from Crosby all the way down to the other two, to get a position. So, I took a shot and gave Mr. Dorsey one year’s notice. It was in September whatever year. I said, “I’m going to leave the band one year from that day.” Beyond that year, I had another six months to do in the contract. He said “Sure.” That’s all he said. “Sure.” (Kaplan, 139)
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| Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford – 1947 |
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| Frank and Tommy Dorsey |
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| Frank Sinatra, right, records with Tommy Dorsey at the RCA Victor Studios in New York City in 1941. |
No one really knows what happened that night Sinatra told Dorsey he wanted out of his contract. Some say he stuck a trombone down his throat until Dorsey complied to let him out of the contract and some say he offered Dorsey an amount of money he couldn’t say no to. Many conclusions can be drawn from it but whatever the case may be we must thank Dorsey he let Sinatra out to make a name for himself. A big Dorsey fan myself, Sinatra should have been grateful for Dorsey’s expertise and guidance. It makes for an interesting old Hollywood story and it gives Sinatra that edge we all love about him.
Kaplan James, Frank; The Voice. Anchor Books. November 11th
“The Godfather.” IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 1 Nov. 2015
updated: 3/14/2016
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